Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Izumi Pov.
"HAHAHAHA!" I laughed out loud as my shadows attacked AFO who was flying in the sky with one of her quirks. Daggers emerged from my shadows that covered my body; they were covered in Haki and cut AFO's body. More, more, more! It wasn't enough!
"Looks like you've lost your mind, Miyamura!" AFO mocked, her fingers crackling with energy, before I felt a localized gravitational pull pull me down. AFO's body had lost most of its bulk.
Her body was now that of a normal adult woman; most of her clothes were torn, and her helmet was also torn, leaving her head completely exposed. Her hair and white eyes showed no emotion other than hatred and bloodlust.
She had put aside the use of body enhancement quirks and was now focusing on her other quirks, ones more esoteric and stronger than her previous ones.
"On the contrary! I just saw the light within my shadows!" I laughed happily at my stupid pun as I stood up with ease.
Grandpa quickly intervened and somehow severed the gravitational pull along with half of AFO's arm, freeing me. Grandpa moved, and I could see him mimicking Sun Breathing for a moment.
My eyes flashed almost indignantly. Grandpa had seen more than enough of me to memorize and replicate my movements, but the bastard should at least ask permission! Just because we share blood doesn't give him special rights!
Still, I couldn't deny its effectiveness. Grandfather used the Thirteenth Form with ease while cycling through all the forms of Sun Breathing. I could see several flaws; after all, it wasn't the same combat style Grandfather used, but even so, Grandfather moved quickly and fluidly.
AFO's body earned hundreds of cuts in moments before AFO's body exploded, no, before the blood exploded, grandpa jumped back immediately, but he was slow enough to get caught in the explosion, slightly leaving a few burn marks despite his aura.
All Might appeared above AFO and launched a powerful punch coated in Haki. AFO raised her hand and created a translucent shield that received and nullified All Might's blow. Even so, All Might remained undeterred; hundreds of punches rained down on the translucent shield before it shattered mid-strike.
The punches pushed AFO back to the ground. AFO growled as the gravitational pressure fell on All Might, pushing him down to the ground. AFO's hands became claw-like, appeared like jetpacks on her wrist, and stretched out faster than a bullet.
All Might managed to stop one of his hands, but the next one dug into his stomach despite his defenses. Grandpa arrived and cut off AFO's hands, which she easily regenerated.
I grinned maniacally as I dropped my swords, immediately clapping in front of me, interlacing my fingers, and joining my thumbs before pointing my hands at the ground.
I'd been an idiot, focusing too much on my shikigami when shadow manipulation had countless applications. And that's not all: I'd given up on Megumi's "Mastery" from the start, seeing it as impossible to replicate like a Quirk.
Mostly because my Quirk was essentially and functionally distinct from the original Ten Shadows, the deaths of my shikigami aren't permanent. I could cast Totality and use it on myself.
It had a resemblance to Megumi's Ten Shadows, but they were not the same.
Still, up until now, most of the things Megumi had achieved, I could replicate.
Megumi never had a Domain; instead, what he had been able to manifest was an extension of Ten Shadows, albeit with an increased power of 120% to utilize new applications.
120%
And… how could I tell myself I was a damn UA student if I couldn't push beyond a simple 100%? That would be terribly incompetent of me! So I grabbed Ten Shadows, I grabbed MY quirk, and I tried it, I pushed it with all my might beyond its limits.
I had only had it for a short time; it hadn't been developed enough, nor had I discovered everything it could do. But that didn't matter; that could come later. Now, I just had to push it even further.
PLUS ULTRA.
It was UA's goddamn motto, I was a goddamn UA student, I was goddamn Izumi Miyamura, and it was my goddamn Quirk. And finally, something gave. My shadows exploded, flooding the entire battlefield.
They consumed the shadows of the night and made them mine. My presence extended dozens, if not hundreds, of meters.
"HAHAHAHAHA!! Chimera Shadow Garden!!! " My shadows seemed to come to life, whips emerged from underneath AFO, who was still on the ground, and began to tie her up and restrain her to the ground.
I didn't even have to use haki to keep them solid; the shadows themselves seemed to gain solidity and substance, so they kept AFO momentarily restrained.
I could feel my aura draining rapidly as I maintained my Chimera Shadow Garden, but the cost was far less than using Haki to envelop my shadows.
"This again!?" AFO shouted as her body began to glow brightly once more. I laughed out loud, my shadows resisting her light. I reached into my shadows and pulled out Enma.
I quickly wrapped it in shadows, reshaped my sword, reshaped it to a new length, and wrapped it in Haki. Enma, wrapped in shadows, was now over two meters long, but more importantly, it had three sub-blades extending from different points along the blade.
The Kokushibo sword was a pain to create, so I never bothered carrying a sword of that shape. But forming them with shadows was easy.
I approached AFO, let Enma absorb my haki, my aura, and slashed my sword horizontally. Moon Breathing - Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail. Enma's aura merged with the shadows on my sword, and they quickly formed a trail of violet aura.
Small moons began to emerge from it, cutting everything in their path. AFO groaned as the moons cut her, cutting her countless times.
AFO screamed once more, and a massive bolt of lightning struck right above her. She seemed to absorb the lightning, and her body seemed to become electrified. Lightning bolts shot out from her now and then, and her speed increased explosively.
She appeared at my side in an instant and tried to attack me. Her hands had turned into claws, and she tried to pierce my head without hesitation. I ducked slightly and narrowly dodged the attack.
Oh no… I forgot I had bunny ears long enough to stick out of my head, and one of them was violently ripped off. I gritted my teeth at the sharp pain.
I swung my sword once more. Fourteenth Form: Catastrophe, Tenman Crescent Moon, I launched a multitude of attacks towards AFO, the moons forming thanks to Enma's aura, which slashed at AFO and made her retreat, just in time for All Might to intercept her once more.
"Are you okay?" Grandpa asked, stopping next to me. I could see him slightly battered. He had minor wounds all over, burns, cuts, and a few bruises. Luckily, I could see inside his body, and he had no internal injuries or bleeding. His aura and haki had protected him from the worst.
"I'm perfect!" I let out a laugh as I launched myself at AFO once more. I interrupted the fight as All Might and AFO clashed, Sixteenth Form: Moonbow, Half Moon. I moved my modified Enma vertically, causing six curved slashes to descend right on AFO at the same time.
All the blows were strong enough to knock AFO to her knees as the ground beneath her feet shattered from the force of the impact. All Might seized the moment, his fist nearly grazing the ground as he delivered a hard uppercut to AFO's jaw.
AFO was sent flying into the sky, where Grandpa was waiting. Shusui was entirely clad in Haki as he struck AFO with a downward strike. AFO gritted her teeth and coated her back with Haki to avoid being sliced in half once more.
Even so, she was thrown to the ground once more and slammed into the ground hard. AFO stood up furiously, and I stepped out of the shadows in front of her. I grinned maniacally as I raised my sword above my head.
AFO raised both fists and crossed them above her head, wrapping them in Haki to protect herself from the blow.
I smiled sadistically as I front-kicked AFO in the chest. I could see AFO's bewilderment, and I just smiled maniacally as my shadows behind AFO exploded upwards and quickly formed an iron maiden.
AFO was impaled by the dozens of spikes inside the iron maiden before it violently closed. I grabbed Enma, let my shadows vanish, drew Sendai Kitetsu from under my feet, and launched myself at the iron maiden, slashing both swords through the shadows that formed AFO's prison.
I could feel my swords pierce AFO's flesh, and I pushed my aura into her, awakening more vestiges. AFO let out another tremendous scream and used a new quirk that made my shadows vibrate, tremble, and begin to lose shape.
I clicked my tongue and jumped back as my shadows on the ground extended like spikes and pierced the iron maiden like a pincushion. That didn't stop AFO in the slightest.
My shadows exploded, revealing an even more pissed-off AFO than before. Her fingers shot out small bolts of lightning as the ground beneath my shadows began to shake. Large amounts of metal reached out, and she threw them toward us.
I gritted my teeth, my shadows exploding in front of All Might, Grandpa, and me, swallowing up all the metal they could. I gritted my teeth as the shadows began to push me down from the rapidly increasing weight.
The amount of metal easily exceeded several dozen tons. My knees hit the ground, unable to bear the weight. AFO seized the moment, throwing a punch that passed through her portal and appeared above me.
Her fist slammed into my back, causing me to gasp as I lost all my air and spat out blood. Grandpa and All Might quickly intervened, giving me time to remove all the metal inside my shadows so I could move once more.
I wiped the blood from my mouth as I stood up and grabbed my swords. I still needed to wrap my arms in my shadows so I could get a firm grip on them.
I really needed my Deer's healing. It was a shame that I couldn't use my shikigami while their essences were in the clones, even with Chimera Shadow Garden. All I had was Rabbit, and that just gave me a stupid idea.
Another of the many I've taken tonight.
Megumi was able to create clones, completely identical only to their shadows, without needing Rabbit's power. They were similar enough to confuse several opponents.
That… meant I could make more than just solid shadow objects? Perfectly identical replicas of my shadows? I mean, I'm sure I couldn't replicate Enma and its ability, but replicating its appearance to make it look the same… should be feasible.
And if I could do that… I could recreate other figures, shapes, and even other people.
I smiled madly and moved.
During the following exchanges, in addition to giving my shadows shape, substance, and hardness, I also tried to provide them with an appearance, something that could not be distinguished from an everyday object.
It took me several attempts to achieve a simple sword. It was useless, as it didn't add anything to the shadows other than requiring more aura and concentration to create it. However, that meant I could.
My shadows could replicate and reflect the appearance of real objects. I didn't have much experience with this yet, but it should work.
I hid in my shadows and positioned myself beneath AFO. She saw me immediately, and with a grunt, she reached inside my shadows and pulled me out of them. I allowed her to.
I created a clone with my shadows, covered it with my shadows, and changed its appearance. It was imperfect since I'd never actually seen it, but I molded it from my memories, from what I'd seen, and I changed it slightly—I'm sure it wasn't even close.
The clone emerged from the shadows of my chest and stood between AFO and me. It must have worked because AFO froze for the first time, completely stunned.
"Sister! Stop!" the Clone pleaded in a broken voice. Still, AFO seemed surprised.
"Yoichi?" AFO muttered in confusion. I then grinned maniacally. Wado Ichimonji leaped out of the shadows in front of my mouth, punched through Yoichi's clone, and pierced AFO's shoulder.
Enma and Sendai Kitetsu in my hands, also pierced the clone and stuck it into AFO's stomach, then I took the opportunity and pushed my aura into her while Yoichi's clone dissolved into shadows.
The Vestiges roared inside AFO and began attacking her from within, and I started laughing maniacally.
At the same time, AFO woke up and punched me directly in the face; she didn't even use a quirk, haki, or aura. It was a punch so full of anger that she forgot about everything else; she just wanted to hit me in the face.
I laughed out loud as I was sent flying backward, having to let go of Wado Ichimonji, but I absorbed her into my shadows. Although thanks to that, AFO was completely unprotected, All Might appeared beside her and punched AFO in the unprotected jaw, and cut Grandpa below her waist at the same time.
AFO didn't even seem to care as her body split, simply regenerating once more. Her face twisted into a murderous rage as she glared at me.
"MIYAMURA!!!" AFO shouted, her voice amplified several times by various Quirks, and she released a shockwave. All Might and Grandpa were thrown back. I just smiled maniacally.
"Is that all it takes to distract you? A face?" I mocked AFO before jumping to the side as AFO suddenly appeared beside me while growling hatefully. I felt my body stop in midair.
I don't even know what happened or what kind of quirk AFO used. I just stopped mid-air; my body stopped moving and responding. I could only watch as AFO's fist approached my face.
I gritted my teeth as AFO landed a powerful punch to the side of my head. My body finally began to move, and I flew once more. Before landing on the ground, I absorbed myself within my shadows to reduce the damage.
I jumped out almost immediately; my aura had protected me from that blow, but I could feel my ears ringing as I tried to get my bearings. I just chuckled as I spat more blood to the side.
I stood up and watched All Might and Grandpa struggle against AFO, preventing her from reaching me. Had it been a bad idea to use Yoichi's face? Not really. It worked. I could feel the vestiges inside her body struggling against AFO.
AFO barely paid attention to him; her anger and focus were directed at me, so I ignored the internal damage. It worked, though; I just pissed off a damn psychopath. I could only smile wider.
I grabbed my swords with difficulty, digging them into the ground as I tried to stand. I was about to throw myself once more when I finally felt it.
The dungeon boss had been killed. My smile widened.